Macedonia Renews Assault on Ethnic Albanian Rebels

Carlotta Gall, New York Times

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, March 29, 2001

2001-03-29 04:00:00 PDT Lipkovo, Macedonia -- Macedonian security forces began another operation against ethnic Albanian rebels yesterday, this time in northern Macedonia, close to the Kosovo border, in a last effort to rout the guerrillas before political talks begin.

The government claims to have successfully driven back rebels of the National Liberation Army (NLA) from the region in western Macedonia around Tetovo, the scene of 12 days of fighting. Now, it says, only a few villages in the north remain to be dealt with.

Security forces at dawn deployed troops and armor from Lipkovo into the Black Mountains, about 15 miles north of the capital, Skopje. They began attacking rebel positions in and around the villages of Brest, Malino and Gusince. Rebels have been fighting in this area since the conflict began in mid-February, just a few miles from where U.S. peacekeepers patrol the Kosovo border.

The rebels have pulled back from some of their positions in western Macedonia, and international peacekeepers have caught some crossing into Kosovo. But many are thought to still be in the woods and mountains and in the northern areas.

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Heavy explosions could be heard near Lipkovo from several miles away, but Macedonian police sealed the roads and barred reporters from the area. The villages under siege are populated by ethnic Albanians, although most of the civilian population is thought to have fled.

Heavy fighting could also be heard farther east in the village of Gracani, near the main Macedonia-Kosovo border crossing. Russian-made helicopter gunships, which Macedonia obtained last week from Ukraine, attacked the village with rockets, Western journalists reported.

Government spokesman Antonio Milososki said yesterday that Skopje now wanted a "political and economic dialogue" with Albanian political parties on issues in the fragile multiethnic state.

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The government has refused to consider talks with the rebels, but the Albanian parties are pushing the same demands: rephrasing the constitution and equal rights for Albanians concerning education, employment and the use of their own language.

The operation was intended to disperse the rebels and regain control of the northern border with Kosovo, a military spokesman said. The government has said Kosovo is the source of weapons and violence and that international peacekeepers had not prevented men and weapons from crossing illegally.